Sancho II of Pamplona

Sancho II Garcés Abarca (after 935 – December 994) was King of Pamplona from 970 until his death. He was the son of García Sánchez I and Andregota, daughter of Galindo Aznárez II, Count of Aragon. After his succession, he recognised his younger brother Ramiro as King of Viguera.

The Historia General de Navarra by Jaime del Burgo says (referencing in turn the Anales del Reino de Navarra of José de Moret) that on the occasion of the donation of the villa of Alastue by Sancho to the monastery of San Juan de la Peña in 987, he titled himself "King of Navarre," the first time that title had been used. This title, however, did not come into common usage until the late eleventh century. The epithet "Abarca," meaning "sandal," is not contemporary, but is medieval.

Under Sancho, the kingdom solidified some of the gains of his predecessor, but also suffered several significant military setbacks at the hands of Ummayad troops. Navarre was linked with the Kingdom of León and the County of Castile by familial bonds, and the realms frequently worked in concert, with the Navarrese monarchy supporting the young Ramiro III of León.

In 972, he founded the monastery of San Andrés de Cirueña. In 976, at the monastery of Albelda, the cultural and intellectual centre of his kingdom, the Codex Vigilanus was completed. It is one of the most important illuminated manuscripts of medieval Spain, containing the canons of the Councils of Toledo, a copy of...
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